Armed trio snatch chain

Three youths on a motorbike snatched a woman's gold chain and fled while firing in the air in Baruipur on Wednesday afternoon.

A week-and-a-half back, the gold chain of a 42-year-old woman was snatched on Begumpur Road, around 2km from the spot where Mahua De Chakraborty lost her ornament on Wednesday.

Mahua, a resident of Kayasthapara, was heading for Baruipur railway station with two other women around 3.30pm when the chain was snatched.

The youths wearing denims and black jackets came riding a bike from behind while the women were crossing Bamanpara, around 800 metres from the station.

Witnesses said two of the youths got off the bike and approached the group, while the third drove a few metres ahead and stood watching.

One of the two youths touched Mahua's neck and when she turned around, the other snatched the chain. As the women screamed, the duo started running towards the bike. "Some of those who witnessed the snatching started chasing the duo, one of whom turned around and fired in the air. As the pursuers stopped, the youths got on to the bike and and the gang sped off," said an officer of Baruipur police station.

The shocked women, along with a few others, walked to the police station and lodged a complaint. According to the complaint, the gold chain weighed 14 gram.

The police later arrived at the spot and recovered a fired shell of 9mm diameter, suggesting the gang had used a sophisticated firearm.

"We are trying to get sketches of the accused made based on witnesses' statements and find out whether they were involved in other cases too," the officer said.

"Earlier, such incidents would occur at night or early in the morning. Now, even afternoons are unsafe," said Dipali Nath, a resident of Baruipur.

--

Get stories like this on the Yahoo app and discover more every day.Download it now.